Surgical needle and suture assembly and method of making the same



Oct. 20, 1925.

H. D. MORTON SURGICAL NEEDLE AND SUTURE ASSEMBLY AND METHOD OF MAKINGTHE SAME Filed June 17, 1925 llllnzi lid ltd

Patented Oct. 20, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

HARRY D. MORTOIL' OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SURGICAL NEEDLE AND SUTUR-E ASSEMBLY AND METHOD OF MAKING THE $AME.

Application filed June 17, 1925. Serial No. 87,599.

.and-suture assembly and methods of making the same embodying myinvention inthe form and manner at present preferred by me; but it willbe understood that various modifications and changes maybe made withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention and without exceeding thescope of my claims.

My inventionwill best be understood reference to the accompanyingdrawings; 1n

' which I have illustrated the preferred manner of carrying out myinvention, and in which Fig. 1 shows, partly in elevation and partly insection, a needle having in its shank a substantially longitudinalrecess,

cylindrical in form; Fig. 2 shows in section an enlarged view of theshank end of said needle, but with the recess altered to the form of atruncated cone tapering'toward the neck of said recess; Fig. 3 shows thesame view as Fig. 2 of the shank end of said needle, but with a liquidin said recess adapted to soften or to adhere to the end portion of asuture inserted therein; and Fig. a shows the same View as Fig. 2 of theshank end of said needle, but with the inserted end of the sutureconforming to and anchored within the recess. I

Like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, 1 is a needle which may be of any desiredbody form; 2 is a recess formed in the shank thereof, in

any-suitable manner, such as by drilling or swaging and ,drawing saidrecess being preferably cylindrical in form and of suchdiameter relativeto the, outside diameter of the shank. as. to leave only a thinsurrounding wall. 3 is the shank of the needle after it has been soformed, as by spinning or swaging, that the wall surrounding the recessis tapered toward the end of the shank;

4 is a suture such as is commonly employed in surgery. In order tostrengthen the needle at the juncture of the solid shank and the shellportion formed by the wall of the recess, I preferably leave a filletbetweenthe bottom of the recess and the wall thereof.

The invention comprises siinple, efiective and inexpensive means wherebya suture may be firmly attached to a needle in sucha manner that it can,with greater convenience and more satisfactory results than are possibleby present methods, be drawn through perforations formed in tissue bysaid needle.

It has been customary in surgery to thread a suture through an eyeformed in the shank of a needle and transverselyof the axis thereof.Where there. has been employed suture material such as catgut,

which, in its dry state, is hard and unyielding, it has been usual forsurgeons, after:

threading the needle, to immerse the shank thereof in some fluid such aswarm water, in order to soften the portions of the suture adjacent theneedle, so that they might not, in passing through the opening in livetissue formed by the needle, too greatly enlarge such opening andthereby cause unnecessary laceration. in emergency cases, the surgeoncan ill afford to take the time required for thus softening the end ofthe suture. If

the suture is not softened before being used,

and if it is of a size approaching that of the shank of the needle, theperforation formed by the needle is necessarily enlarged by the drawingtherethrough of the double thickness of. suture materialthe size of theperforation being thereby increased to about three times that of thediameter ofthe suture. When sewing a wound in delicate tissue, itfrequently occurs that, in its passage through the perforation, formedby the loop of hard suture material causes such extensive laceration.-that the stitches tear out.

It has heretofore been proposed to attach the shoulder a suture to theshank of a needle by anneale ing and flattening an end portionfof theshank, bending such flattened portion into a U-shape, laying an end ofthe suture in the groove so formed, and bending the sides of theflattened shank portion down over the end of the suture to clinch thesame. This "construction is open to the objection that it does not leavethe surface of the needle smooth, because there are, of course, twoseams therein-one being longitudinal, and the other partlycircumferential, of the shank. Further,the thin, flattened portion ofthe shank being soft, there is always the likelihpod that thisunhardened end of the needle may become bent, or that one "or" other ofthe thin sides may he accidentally turned outward, resulting inunnecessary laceration of the tissue. In annealing the shank of. theneedle preparatory to flatten ing the end thereof, a portion of theshank above the point where the flattening isto terminate is necessarilyalso annealed. It

is customary to apply forceps to the needle to draw it through thetissue, and these forceps are quite likely to roughen or dis tort thisurihardened portion of the shank.

'With my invention it is unnecessary to anneal anypart-of the needle;and the needle is, moreover, left with an entirely smooth outer surfaceand of a diameter only slightly greater than that of the suture.

In carrying out my invention, I preferably form in the shank of theneedle a substantially longitudinal recess having an inner diametergreater than the neck diam? eter thereof, and anchor therein an endportion of the suturel For example, as shown in the drawings (Fig.1), Ifirst form, as by drilling or swaging and drawing, such a recess ofsubstantially cylindrical shape and of a,diameter a trifle larger thanthe diameter of the suture. I then constrict the neck diameter of therecess (as by' sp'in-' ning or swaging) so that it is only slightlygreater than the diameter of the suture;

The .needle is then hardened and tempered in the usual manner. I maythen place in the recess a smallquantity of some inert material such ascement which will, upon setting, adhere to the suture material, theouter surface of the mass of cement conforming to-the shape of therecessth us effectually anchoring the suture therein. The wall of therecess requires to be only a few tliousandths of an inch in thickness,

and with this construction but slight taper in the recessis necessary inorder to effect a secure anchoring ,of the suture therein.

Thus the needle need not be unduly large,

but, of only slightly greater diameter than the suture, which thereforepasses through the perforation without enlarging the same, ence reducingthe possibility of the stitches tearing out.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatlongitudinalrecesses of other forms may be employed, which, by't'he methods Idescribe, will permit of effectually anchoring' the suture, therein. Forexample, the wall of the recess may be cylindrical and may be tappedwith a screw thread to give both large and small internal diameters foranchoring purposes; or the inside of the recess wall,may be otherwisescarified in such a manner as to provide adequate anchorage.

Withsome readily softening suture materials, it is not necessary toemploy for anchorage purposes a substance which, upon setting, adheresto the suture and conforms to the shape of the recess. For example,catgut readily absorbs and is softened by water; and other suturematerials may be softened by-other suitable means. When employingcatgut, water or other suitable fluid may be placed in the recess and anend of the suture immersed therein, which. end, when suiiicientlysoftened, may be expanded-by pressure applied between the needle and thehard portion of the.suture outside the recess. This causes the softenedinner portion of the suture to upset.and to conform to the shape of therecess. Upon drying, the end of. the suture is thereby anchored 'in therecess. Moreover, some suture materials, such as catgut, arecharacterized by the fact that, upon being softened by wetting, theyexpand in di ameter, and, upon. hardening, they have a diameter largerthan before being wetted.

With such materials, no pressure may be toughness. I preferably employ asoften-- ing material which does not rust steel. For example, when wateris used, I render it non-rusting by dissolving therein soap or someother suitable substance.- I may increase and expedite the softeningaction of the, water by raising its temperaturethrough heat applied tothe shank of the needle.

It is to be understood that needle-andsuture assemblies made inaccordance with myinvention are to be sterilized and her meticallysealed, in a well known manner, and that they are to be employed in asingle surgical operation only.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of-the UnitedStates is:

l. The method of attaching a suture to a needle. which consists informing in said needle a blind recess having a constricted opening,inserting an end of a suture in said recess and thereafter attachingsaid end to said needle by an anchorage of greater diameter th'antheconstricted opening of said needle. 7

2. The methodof attaching a suture to a needle which consists informinga blind recess in the. shank of the needle, constricting cess 1n theshank of the needle. inserting an menace? end of the suture in saidrecess and expansively anchoring the same therein.

d. The method of attaching a suture to a needle which consists informing in said needle a blind recess constricted in diameter near theopening thereof, inserting an end of the suture in said recess. andupsetting a portion of said end to anchor it in said recess.

5 The method of attaching a suture to a needle which consists in formingin the shank of said needle a blind recess having an internal diametersome part of which is greater than itsneck diameter, inserting a portionof the suture in said recess and increasing the diameter of suchinserted portion to anchor it in said recess.

6. The method of attaching a suture to a needle which. consists informing a recess in said needle, inserting an end of the suture in suchrecess, softening such insert/ed end, ere pending. such endwhilesoftened, and permitting such end to harden in an expandedcondition.

' 7. The method of attaching a suture to a needle which consists informing a recess in said needle, inserting an end of the suture in suchrecess, softening such inserted end, expanding such end by pressureapplied between such needle and suture and allowing such end to hardenin an expanded conch tion.

8. The method oi attaching asuture to a needle which consists ininserting an end of said stature in a recess formed in said needle,which recess has a constricted diameter near its opening, softening suchinserted end, expanding such end While soft and allowing such end toharden in an expanded condition.

9. The method of attaching a suture to a needle which consists informinga recess in'said needle, placing in said recess a fluid havingtheccharacteristics of softening the suture material and of notattacking the needlemateriahimniersing anend of said suture in saidfluid, and allowing said end to sottem'expand and harden in said recess,whereby it becomes anchoredtherein.

10. The method ofattaching a suture to a needle which consists inimmersing an end of said suture in a softening fluid contained in arecess formed in said needle, applying heat to said fluid, allowing saidend to absorb at least a portion of said fluid whereby it softensand'expands, and allowing said end to harden in an expanded conditionand thereby become anchored in said recess.

11. The method of attaching a suture to a needle which consists inimmersingan end so suture and needle whereby said end expands, s5

and "allowing said end to harden in an expanded condition and becomeanchored in said recess.

l2. Themethod which consists in forming in a needle a substantiallylongitudinal blind 7o recess having a constricted opening, hardening andtempering said needle and anchoring a suture in said recess.

13. The combination of a needle element having a blind recess formed inthe shank thereof and a suture element expansively anchored in saidrecess.

'14. In combination, a needle having formed in its shank a blind recesswith an internal diameter greater than its neck diamso eter and a suturemaintained in said recess by an anchorage conforming thereto.

15. In combination, a needle having formed in the shank thereof a blindrecess with an internal diameter greater than its at neck diameter and asuture expansively anchored in said recess.

16. In combination, a needle having formed in its shank aninwardly-flaring blind recess and a suture having its end inscserted insaid recess and expanded to conform thereto.

17. In combination, a needle having formed therein a blind recess havinga constricted opening and surrounded by a hardened and tempered wall anda suture maintained in said recess by an anchorage ofgreater diameterthan said constructed openmg. Y

18.Tn combination, a needle having formed therein a blind recess havinga con stricted opening and surrounded by an unbroken hardenedandtempered circumferential wall and a suture anchored in sald'recess. I19. The,method of making a needle and suture assembly which consists informing in one end of a blank a longitudinalblind recess having aconstricted opening, finishing said blank by pointing, hardening,temper- 1 ing and polishing the same, inserting an end of a suture insaid recess and maintaining the same therein by an anchorageconformingthereto.

HARRY: D; MORTON.

